The beautiful woman just stood where she was and didn't come forward, as if trying to hide herself in the darkness. In the pagoda, there was a sun during the day, but at night, there wasn't the giant moon of the Desolate Moon Continent. However, the stars were large and numerous.
With a cultivator's eyesight, let alone a few zhang, one could see a person's face clearly even from dozens of zhang away. At most, distinguishing colors would be slightly weaker. It was just that Li Yan's mind was elsewhere, and he didn't deliberately stare at her.
"Thank you, Fellow Daoist, for saving... saving my life!"
Finally, someone broke the silence. Li Yan had always been a man of few words when interacting with others. Today, with a guilty conscience, he hadn't said a word since the woman stood up, apart from that one "oh."
He had originally wanted to ask the woman for a reward for saving her life, but in his nervousness, he hadn't been able to say it. Instead, it was the beautiful woman who spoke again.
The beautiful woman's personality was also the cause. Every word she spoke was somewhat cold, but when Li Yan glanced up, he still saw her bite her red lip, and an unnatural expression appeared on her face. Although he couldn't see if she was blushing, Li Yan could guess.
"Oh, you're welcome, Fellow Daoist. I was also being chased by the green shadow released by the Rhino-Horned Green Python. I didn't save you intentionally," Li Yan said, like someone with a guilty conscience, suppressing his pounding heart and trying to make his voice sound calm.
"In any case, I must thank you, Fellow Daoist. The final result... I... I still have three thousand Spirit Stones. Please accept them, Fellow Daoist. This is all this humble woman can offer." The beautiful woman said in a low voice. Then, a spiritual light flashed in the darkness, and a storage pouch flew towards Li Yan.
Neither of them mentioned what had just happened, nor did they mention the antidote, as if they had both forgotten everything. But Li Yan knew that although an aphrodisiac poison could make one's mind hazy, it didn't cause memory loss. It just made one's mind not under one's own control.
Afterward, the poisoned person would remember everything that had happened. This was often what was most painful for those women who had been afflicted with aphrodisiac poison, accompanying them for a lifetime, indelible.
When the spiritual light from the storage pouch flashed, Li Yan saw the woman's face clearly. It was a face that had not yet lost its flush. Li Yan felt a little stunned. For a moment, he was in a daze. The woman seemed to have noticed Li Yan's gaze and hurriedly lowered her head. Her dark hair was already messy, and this movement seemed even more like an attempt to hide.
"Oh, no need. Since you are fine, Fellow Daoist, then I will take my leave." For some reason, Li Yan had no intention of taking her Spirit Stones. The heat on his ear was still there. Li Yan was flustered and a little unnatural. He immediately decided to leave.
With a flick of his sleeve, the storage pouch that had just reached him flew back. Then, Li Yan prepared to retrieve the "Great Dragon-Elephant Formation" and leave.
"Please wait, Fellow Daoist. Fellow Daoist's great kindness, this humble woman will remember it for the rest of my life. I would like to set up a longevity tablet for you at home. May I know your esteemed name?"
The beautiful woman reached out and caught the storage pouch. Seeing that Li Yan was about to leave, she hurriedly took a step forward, then hesitated and stopped again, continuing to hide in the darkness, as if she only felt safe that way. She spoke quickly.
Li Yan was just about to take out the purple flag. Seeing the woman's appearance, he stopped his hand on his storage pouch and shook his head. He was still young and didn't want anyone to set up a longevity tablet for him.
"There's no need for that. As I said, I didn't save you intentionally. I have other matters..." Before Li Yan could finish, the woman bit her lip and interrupted him.
"But I must let you know, Fellow Daoist, that you have actually saved the lives of both my son and me. This humble woman has no way to repay you, but I still want my son to remember your great kindness. Even if you just tell me your surname, that would be enough."
The beautiful woman said seriously, her almond-shaped eyes in the dark night as clear as water.
"Oh, your son?" Hearing this, Li Yan couldn't help but raise his eyes and look carefully at the woman's lower abdomen. Both of them were cultivators. The beautiful woman immediately sensed Li Yan's gaze and her pretty face blushed. "No... no, my son is seriously ill at home. I came here this time to search for a life-saving herb."
Li Yan also felt extremely awkward and cursed himself for being foolish. Although the woman was full-figured, with her flat abdomen, even if she were pregnant, if it was early, it would be impossible to know the gender.
"Oh... oh, my apologies. It seems you have obtained what you needed. Then I, Jiang, congratulate you." Li Yan cupped his hands. He had still answered the woman's question, but he was still unwilling to give his real name.
The beautiful woman hurriedly bowed back in return. "Thank you, Young Master Jiang. I have indeed obtained what I needed. I was chased... chased by the Rhino-Horned Green Python earlier because the herb I needed was too close to its cave, which alerted this... this beast..."
As she spoke, she seemed to remember something and began to stutter, a blush involuntarily appearing on her face.
"Could it be that the herb you needed was some kind of companion herb to the Rhino-Horned Green Python? But as far as I know, the Rhino-Horned Green Python has no particular fondness for any spirit plant or herb."
Li Yan couldn't help but feel a little curious. For a formidable demonic beast like the Rhino-Horned Green Python, if he could learn that it also had a special companion herb, that would be a gain in itself. In his curiosity, Li Yan had overlooked the woman's shyness.
"Young Master Jiang can just call me by my humble name, Mei Hongyu. The herb I needed this time is not a companion spirit plant of the Rhino-Horned Green Python, but the companion herb of the 'Skylight Butterfly'—'Mangtian Scutellaria.'"
"This herb is actually a medicinal catalyst. My son suffered a great disaster shortly after he was born and his soul was injured by an evil person. Hongyu spent several years and managed to gather all the other main herbs, but was just missing a soul-guiding medicinal catalyst. I traveled to many places but couldn't find it."
"Later, I heard that the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda itself is a gathering place for Vicious Souls, which is exactly the kind of place 'Mangtian Scutellaria' loves to grow. And someone had seen a 'Skylight Butterfly' on the second level before, so this humble woman came here to try my luck."
"As for the appearance of the Rhino-Horned Green Python, it was because the 'Skylight Butterfly' nest I found this time was less than a hundred li from its cave. After I killed a group of 'Skylight Butterflies' and had just picked the 'Mangtian Scutellaria,' that... that damn beast appeared and, taking advantage of my unpreparedness, used that despicable... despicable means on me..."
As Mei Hongyu said this, her face was shy. This time, she had almost lost her chastity. How could she not feel shame and anger every time she thought about it?
Li Yan had only asked casually out of curiosity just now. Seeing that the topic had turned back to this, he couldn't help but cough. "Ahem, that's true, a hundred li is not too far. Fairy Mei must have been scanned by its Divine Sense. 'Mangtian Scutellaria,' this Jiang has heard of it for the first time. So, this medicine has a certain therapeutic effect on the soul. This kind of spirit plant is truly rare. In that case, this Jiang congratulates Fairy Mei."
Mei Hongyu's small, fair, and plump hand twisted the long robe.
"'Mangtian Scutellaria' has a soul-guiding effect, but it's useless for humans over the age of ten. In fact, there are several other herbs that can be used as a medicinal catalyst for my son, but those are even rarer. Even if they did appear, I couldn't afford them. Soul-type herbs, even Golden Core cultivators can't easily afford to buy them. So Hongyu could only settle for the next best thing."
Her words were, of course, to tell Li Yan that although "Mangtian Scutellaria" was precious, it was only somewhat effective on the tender souls of children under ten. She was afraid that Li Yan would become interested in this herb, which would put her in a difficult position.
"Alright, since that's the case, then this Jiang must really take his leave. I presume Fairy Mei is also in a hurry to leave now. In that case..."
Sure enough, after hearing this, Li Yan's thought of trying to find "Mangtian Scutellaria" was immediately dismissed. He really had no intention of snatching this herb from Mei Hongyu. It was a life-saving item; he couldn't do something so despicable. And he didn't want to know how Mei Hongyu's son was injured, nor did he want to delay here any longer.
"Hongyu will set up a longevity tablet for Young Master Jiang when I return, so that my son will remember your great kindness for the rest of his life." At this point, Mei Hongyu bowed again. Her heart was worried about her son, and she was indeed thinking of leaving this place and getting out of the pagoda as soon as possible.
Li Yan nodded, slapped his storage pouch, and the purple flag floated out. After he withdrew the formation, Mei Hongyu could leave. Of course, the two of them would go their separate ways.
Mei Hongyu looked at Li Yan, who was about to withdraw the formation. She seemed to have remembered something. After thinking for a moment, she spoke again.
"Hongyu is about to leave the Northern Abyss Demon-Suppressing Pagoda. Fellow Daoist Jiang should still be training here. In that case, that Rhino-Horned Green Python might come back for revenge. Fellow Daoist Jiang's magic power is heaven-defying, so you naturally won't be afraid of it. But this is the Rhino-Horned Green Python's territory. It might bring other demonic beasts with it, or find other demonic beasts of the same rank to attack you together. That demonic beast may have a special sense for certain smells. Please be careful, Young Master."
"I've been thinking about it now. I was very careful when I was collecting the 'Mangtian Scutellaria' because when I found the 'Skylight Butterfly,' I already knew it was only a hundred li from the Rhino-Horned Green Python's cave. So I was quite confident in hiding my own aura. It's very difficult for a Pseudo-Core realm to discover me, especially when I was prepared, and it's impossible for the other party to scan every single place with its Divine Sense all the time. Even a formidable beast like the Rhino-Horned Green Python couldn't take that. And in the end, Hongyu eliminated the 'Skylight Butterfly' in a very short time, and the fluctuation was minimal."
"But just as I was about to pick the 'Mangtian Scutellaria,' the Rhino-Horned Green Python appeared there. Even if I accidentally revealed my tracks when I was eliminating the 'Skylight Butterfly,' plus the time it took to pick the 'Mangtian Scutellaria,' it was less than five breaths in total. For the Rhino-Horned Green Python to appear silently behind me within five breaths, I would never believe that."
"It felt to me like that Rhino-Horned Green Python had been there for a while and had been hiding all along. And at that time, all my attention was on the 'Mangtian Scutellaria' spirit plant, which was why he was able to succeed in his sneak attack. Otherwise, humph... even if I'm not his match, he wouldn't have had an easy time."
"So there are two possibilities for the Rhino-Horned Green Python's appearance there. One is that he just happened to be passing by, and when I arrived, he hid himself beforehand. But Hongyu still doesn't believe this. I had carefully searched a radius of several dozen li before I made my move. I only didn't expand my Divine Sense further for fear of alerting this beast."
"There is another possibility. Thinking about it now, it might be that in order to kill all the 'Skylight Butterflies' in the nest in one go, I used the Bitterness-Free Powder that I had prepared long ago. This medicine has a fatal attraction for 'Skylight Butterflies' and can lure them all out. Then I can set up a trap and kill them all in one fell swoop."
"Now that Hongyu thinks about it, I'm still full of doubts. Could it be that the Rhino-Horned Green Python is also attracted to this medicine, so he..."
"Stop! Fairy Mei, what did you just say? Was it Bitterness-Free Powder?"